Cade Creek 11 - Race Against Time (8 page)

Ari rolled his eyes to the sound of Vinnie’s amusement and started stripping off his pants and underwear. It didn’t take him long to change since he only needed clean pants and underwear. By the time Vinnie was dressed, Ari was ready to go.

“Do you think he’s going to join us?” Ari asked as they walked toward their truck. The thought that they would get to where Race was staying and the man would refuse to come out sat in his stomach like a stone weight.

“I’m sure he will,” Vinnie replied confidently. “I think Race is just as interested in us as we are in him.”

Ari shot Vinnie a look. “You think?”

“I do,
tesorino
.”

Ari felt a bit better at Vinnie’s words. Vinnie had yet to lie to him in all the time they had been together. He doubted the man would start lying to him now, especially not over something so damn important. If Vinnie felt as though there was any possibility that Race wasn’t interested in them, Vinnie would tell him.

Ari had to believe that.

By the time they pulled up in front of Dorian and Artie’s house, his doubts were back. When Vinnie brought the truck to a stop on the street in front of Dorian and Artie’s and turned it off, Ari just sat there and stared at the lit-up windows of the house.

“Ari?”

“We should probably just go in as friends, you know?” Ari glanced at Vinnie to see if the man understood where he was going. “He’s scared and right now, if we come on too strong, he’s going to rabbit.”

“Possible.”

Ari didn’t want to hear that. He wanted Vinnie to argue with him. “So, how do we handle this?”

Vinnie smiled. “As friends.”

Ari rolled his eyes. “You’re a lot of help.”

Vinnie chuckled as he climbed out of the truck. “You love me and you know it.”

Ari sighed. “Yeah, I do.”

Vinnie grew serious. “Then listen to me now. Race is interested, but he is scared. He still has some maniac hunting him. The best thing we can do for him right now is to be there for him in whatever capacity he needs. We’ll worry about all of this other stuff later.”

“I know you’re right,” Ari said. “But I just can’t help feeling that we could lose Race if we’re not careful.”

“Ari, we don’t have him yet, so there is nothing to lose.”

“Oh, yes, there is,” Ari mumbled as he climbed out of the truck and shut the door. They had so much to lose if Race didn’t accept their unusual arrangement. Ari had no doubt that he and Vinnie would continue on as they were, but there would always be a hole that could have been filled by the beautiful redhead.

Ari felt as though his heart was trying to climb into his throat as they walked up the path leading to the front porch and then climbed the steps to the porch. Vinnie glanced at him before knocking on the door. Ari tried to put a smile on his face, but he was too nervous. He was pretty sure it came off as a pathetic grimace.

His breath stopped moving through his chest when the door opened and Race stood there in all of his beautiful glory. His bright red hair had been gelled, making the tips stand up. His white dress shirt was in deep contrast to his glowing skin. His jeans hugged his hips like a second skin.

And Ari wanted to lick every inch of him.

Damn
.

“Evening, Race,” Vinnie said because Ari seemed to have swallowed his tongue. “Are you ready to go to dinner?”

Race grinned as he nodded. “Yes. Just let me tell Dorian and Artie we’re leaving and then we can be on our way.”

“You might want to bring a jacket,” Ari said, finally finding his tongue. “There’s a slight nip in the air tonight.”

Race grinned. “Okay.”

Ari groaned when the man turned and walked away. “Damn, would you look at that ass,” he whispered to Vinnie. It was the sweetest ass he had seen in a very long time. Vinnie had a nice ass. Hell, Vinnie had a great ass. But Race’s ass was a thing of true beauty.

“I’m looking, I’m looking.”

“We’re going to have to beat them off with baseball bats at the Rusty Nail.”

Vinnie nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Ari’s eyebrows rose as he glanced at Vinnie. “Did you bring one?”

“No.” Vinnie looked at him. “Did you?”

Ari sighed. “No.”

“Maybe Dorian has a gun we can borrow.”

Ari chuckled. “Maybe.”

Before they could say more, Race came back into the room, carrying a jacket over his good arm. Ari smiled at him, a real smile this time. “You ready to go?”

“Yep.”

Ari waited until Race got a little closer before holding the front door open for him. If nothing else, Race would remember Ari’s manners.

“Thank you,” Race said as he walked out of the house.

Once they got to the truck, Ari made sure Race was between him and Vinnie. Despite the fact that that’s where he wanted the man, he also needed to think of Race’s safety. They still didn’t know if Race’s abuser had followed him back to Cade Creek.

“I know you spent some time in Cade Creek before you went to New York,” Ari said once they were underway. “Have you ever been out to the Rusty Nail?”

When Race’s face flushed, Ari’s interest was piqued. “A couple of times,” Race replied. “Harvey is Dorian’s younger brother, so it wasn’t unusual for us to hang out there.”

“So, you’re familiar with the place, then?”

Race’s flush deepened. “Very.”

“Just how very?” Vinnie asked, but only because he spoke first. Ari wanted to know the same thing.

“I danced there once.”

Ari’s jaw dropped as erotic images of Race dancing on a stripper pole flooded his brain. He swallowed hard, his cock swelling so much, it pressed threateningly against his zipper.

“You danced there?” he whispered.

“Yeah, it was for a bachelor party for Deputy Nick Hale.” Race’s smile was sad for a moment before it brightened. “That’s where I met DB and he got me in touch with Kapheri el-Masri, who sent me to school in New York.”

“Which school was that?” Ari asked.

“Julliard. I’m going to dance.” Race’s smile faltered. “Or at least I was until Terrence Flannery took a liking to me. Now, I doubt I’ll ever get to dance.”

The hell he wouldn’t. Ari glanced across the cab of the truck and made eye contact with Vinnie. The knowing look in the man’s brown eyes told Ari he was of the same thought as him. Race would dance, somehow. They would see to it.

“What kind of dancing do you do?” Vinnie asked.

Race’s eyes dropped down to his hands and the man seemed to kind of fold into himself. “Ballet.”

“Really?” Ari asked. “That is so cool. I always thought that those ballet dancers you see onstage on Broadway were the coolest. I wasn’t much into
The Nutcracker
, but the other ballet shows I’ve seen were fantastic. I can’t imagine being able to jump that high, let alone bend like some of them do, and to be able to stand on your toes like that…”

When Ari glanced at Race, the man was staring at him with his mouth hanging open. Ari chuckled as he reached over and placed a finger under Race’s chin, lifting it until the man’s mouth closed. He chuckled when another deep flush filled the man’s face.

“I guess you didn’t expect that, did you?”

“No,” Race replied. “Not really.”

“Every year at Christmastime, my mother would take me and my siblings to the ballet. She said if it was the last thing she ever did in her life, she was going to make sure we were exposed to some culture.”

“Is your mother still alive?” Race asked.

“Oh yeah. She and my dad live back east.”

“And the rest of your family?”

“They live within blocks of my parents.”

“Must be nice,” Race mumbled.

“I don’t really see a whole lot of them. I still talk to my mother on the phone a couple of times a week, but the rest of them are waiting for me to get over my”—Ari made quotes in the air with his fingers—“little phase.”

If they ever knew of the things Ari truly wanted in his life, they would never speak to him again. Getting over his “little phase” was the least of his problems.

“They really won’t speak to you because you’re gay?”

Ari shrugged. “Happens more often than it should.” As sad as it was to say, Ari had come to terms with the fact that his family had abandoned him because he preferred sleeping with men instead of women.

“I was abandoned on a park bench in Racine, Wisconsin, as an infant,” Race said. “That’s how I got my name. The nuns at the children’s home named me after the city where I was found. I have no idea who my mother and father are.”

“Oh, baby.” Ari’s heart ached for the man, but more for the calm unemotional way he explained that he had no parents. It was almost as if the man was detached from what had happened to him.

“Is that how you ended up joining the Dirty Dozen?” Vinnie asked.

Race nodded. “In a roundabout way. After I turned eighteen and graduated from high school, I was at loose ends. My job sucked, I lived in a craptastic studio apartment on the not-so-nice side of town, and I had no friends to speak of. One night, I decided to go to a local bar on the outskirts of the town I was living in to soak my sorrows in booze.”

Ari’s eyebrows shot up. “I bet that didn’t work out so well for you.”

“No.” Race chuckled as if he found the whole thing amusing. “I picked the worst bar in the entire state. I wasn’t in the door five minutes before I got pinched, propositioned, and punched.”

Ari growled his displeasure.

“Dorian and the Dirty Dozen showed up. To this day, I have no idea what Dorian saw in me, but he beat the crap out of the guy that punched me, broke the finger of the guy who pinched me, and threw the guy who propositioned me out the window.” Race smiled as if remembering a fond memory. “Then he tossed me a leather jacket and a roll of money, told me to pack up my shit, and go buy a motorcycle. I was joining his club.”

“Did you even know how to ride a motorcycle?” Ari asked.

“No.” Race laughed. “I didn’t have a freaking clue, but I learned quickly. Dorian and Bear have been looking out for me ever since.”

Ari sighed. Looked like he had a couple of people to thank…and to let know that their work was done. Vinnie and Ari would be looking after Race from now on.

Vinnie smiled as he watched Race laugh at something Ari said. It was a really good look on the sexy redhead, especially after the shit that had been shoveled in his direction for what seemed like most of his life. The more Vinnie heard, the more determined he became to make sure the rest of Race’s life was a happy one.

“Can I get you guys another beer?”

Vinnie tilted his head back to look up at the waiter. “I’m good, Joey, thanks.”

Joey glanced toward Ari and Race. “And what about you two?”

Ari shook his head. “Two is good for me.”

“I’m drinking soda,” Race said.

Joey laughed. “So, do you want another soda?”

“Naw, I’m good,” Race said.

“Aren’t you supposed to be singing tonight?” Vinnie asked.

Joey had been attacked and lost his voice. When he became involved with his husband, Harvey, who owned The Rusty Nail Bar and Grill, his voice had eventually come back. From then on, he sang in the bar several nights a week.

“Yep.” Joey beamed. “I’m on in a few minutes. I’m just helping Dixie out tonight.”

Vinnie glanced toward where the dyed platinum blonde was tending bar. The older woman had one of the largest racks Vinnie had ever seen, tattoos up and down her arms, and a shotgun under the bar named Bessie. She was tough as nails and didn’t take shit off of anyone.

“I’m looking forward to hearing you sing again, Joey,” Race said.

Joey smiled. “Then I’ll be sure to sing a song just for you.”

Race brightened, which made Ari brighten, which in turn, made Vinnie brighten. It was a cascading effect, and it made Vinnie laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Considering he was there tonight to find out more about the jackass who had hurt Race, he shouldn’t feel so cheerful.

He knew they needed to get back on track.

Sitting forward, Vinnie set his elbows on the wooden table and clasped his hands together. He rested his chin on his folded hands. “Race, I hate to break the mood here, but we need to know about this guy that beat you up.”

Vinnie wished he had kept his mouth shut when all of the joy drained out of Race’s face along with the blood. He turned pasty white. “Race?”

Race shuddered. “He’s here.”

Vinnie’s head whipped around so he could look in the direction Race was staring at with such fear. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the well-dressed man standing just inside the bar entrance. The two rather large men behind him were similarly dressed.

“Is that him?” Ari asked.

“He’s the one in front,” Race whispered.

Vinnie assumed as much. The other two goons had obvious bulges under their jackets. Vinnie could tell they were carrying weapons. The guy in front seemed to be rather self-important. The way he looked around the bar with a disgusted curl to his lip clearly showed his thoughts on being in a country bar.